Monday, April 9, 2012

Seeing Red

Guys Up North don't fool around. When horizontal freezing rain smashes directly into their blood-drained faces in the lineup they call it offshore. They regard plaid as a color. The only other colors in their chart are jeans, mud, and doghair.

Their automobiles are often missing seats and the word pilates has never, ever escaped through their unironically moustached upper lips. They think Miley Cyrus is a constellation, latte is how Italians say Goodbye, and a decaf is some kind of move from the summer Olympics that's done by dudes in tights.

What I'm saying is that there's a dialogue the rest of the nation is obsessed with that doesn't concern these folks in the slightest.

And they like stuff that's built to last.

9'6 triple stringer for Jonny from Up North. Full board tint with freehand comp bands--done during lamination by master glasser Tony Mikus at Almar Glass Works.

Built tough (heavy-but-not-too-heavy glass job, deck patch, fin patch, tailblock), so when the sleet turns onshore and the beach fire turns to smoke, Jonny doesn't have to worry as he tosses it with frozen fingers into the back of his van.

2 comments:

Thanks for the props, Makai. The nose stripes were done during the lamination: glass was laid down on the board, then a dark red tint was mixed and poured by hand crossways over the nose to create the bands. With resin tinting, the first color to hit the board stays. Then Tony mixed up a standard batch of red tinted resin, and laminated the rest of the board. The standard way to do comp bands is after the board has been laminated, hotcoated and sanded. The glasser will tape off the bands, paint the resin on, then gloss coat over the entire board. Makes for nice crisp lines. This customer, however, wanted them freehand and 'sloppy looking.' Done!Comp bands used to be for longboard competitions--competitors would get points for spending time in the 'banded' region of their board, and it was easier for judges to see. I think those days are over (thankfully), so now they're just aesthetic. These make a nice contrast to the triple-stringer lines running in the other direction.

Thanks for checking out HeadHighGlassy, home of Jamie Murray Custom Surfboards.Surfboards are sexy--in shape and design, as works of functional art, as platforms for our feet and imaginations--and I look forward to sharing some of my work here.All of my boards are hand built, and all of my glassing is by Michel Junod's Almar Glass Works in Santa Cruz. Their work is outstanding.Enjoy, participate if the mood strikes you, and feel free to drop me a line.